Another crime-fiction potboiler, which is readable, but not exactly aiming for the stars. I've only read one other book by the author, but the man character banging on about his long-missing wife gets very annoying.

Saving my holier-than-thou nonsense for a more deserving cause since '82

Another crime-fiction potboiler, which is readable, but not exactly aiming for the stars. I've only read one other book by the author, but the man character banging on about his long-missing wife gets very annoying.

Finally gave up with PJ when his last book came out to largely dreadful reviews and discovered that the Kindle version was more expensive than the hardback book

Pretty fascinating; loads of food for thought. A journalist rides along on a container ship going from England to Singapore and reflects on shipping and globalization, Somali pirates and the lack of legal accountability to the families of the thousands lost at sea every year.

"Shipping is so cheap that it makes more financial sense for Scottish cod to be sent 10,000 miles to China to be filleted, then sent back to Scottish shops and restaurants, than to pay Scottish filleters.”

Jimbo wrote:Look, all I know is pretty much what I get from Robert Parry over at Consortium News.

It's really good in the earlier chapters, which takes a very broad sweeping athropological view on certain subjects. Such as the agricultural revolution being largely bad for humankind's sense of happiness, which is a controversial opinion, but he states his reasoning clearly and (possibly a little) simplistically. When he gets up to modern times, politics/economy/religion, it was less entertaining. Partially due to my lack of interest on much more familiar ground being covered, and partially because I think his arguments were more based on personal opinion than a particularly scientific rationale.

Well worth a read.

Saving my holier-than-thou nonsense for a more deserving cause since '82

Brilliant political space opera with a historical scope, world and characterization that makes Star Wars look like a children's story. The title is somewhat grandiose but the story is so good that it earns such a title. Looking forward to the other 7 books and it seems they're all going to be translated.

This book reminds me of Roadside Picnic meets Rendezvous with Rama. It's definitely holding my attention thus far and it's a short read which is sometimes nice. Now, let's see if he can hook me for the entire trilogy.

joels344 wrote:This book reminds me of Roadside Picnic meets Rendezvous with Rama. It's definitely holding my attention thus far and it's a short read which is sometimes nice. Now, let's see if he can hook me for the entire trilogy.

I recently read his Finch, a kind of sci-fi detective noir, just with more fungal-lifeforms than the average Daschiell Hammett novel. I enjoyed it, even if it took me a while to understand his setting.

Saving my holier-than-thou nonsense for a more deserving cause since '82

joels344 wrote:This book reminds me of Roadside Picnic meets Rendezvous with Rama. It's definitely holding my attention thus far and it's a short read which is sometimes nice. Now, let's see if he can hook me for the entire trilogy.

I recently read his Finch, a kind of sci-fi detective noir, just with more fungal-lifeforms than the average Daschiell Hammett novel. I enjoyed it, even if it took me a while to understand his setting.

That one also sounds like a good read. Once he establishes a setting, they are very intriguing and atmospheric.